Henryk Litwin: European community needs to respond effectively, strongly and courageously to the steps of the Russian Federation

Kyiv, March 25, 2014. Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Poland to Ukraine announced official position of Poland regarding recent events in Ukraine at the Ukrainian crisis media center.

Commenting on the recent events in Ukraine, Mr. Litwin announced the official position of Poland: “I will shortly sum up the simple position that has repeatedly been stated by President, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs: we do not recognize the separation of the Crimea and the territorial changes that occurred. European community needs to respond effectively, strongly and courageously to the steps of the Russian Federation. We see these steps as the beginning of a threat to European stability”.

Mr. Litwin said that there are sectors of the Polish economy that are closely connected to Russia, but at the same time it is clear that the most serious threat is the lack of stability. He noted that for some contacts and sectors, protective actions will be implemented. However, despite the fact that the following steps have already been made, European partners support the position that sanctions should be imposed. EU is a structure that has been established to reduce internal conflicts, so the EU can do a lot to help Ukraine. It is possible to impact not only through sanctions towards Russia, but also through the assistance to Ukraine.

Mr. Litwin said that there is no official statistics on the number of Ukrainians seeking the help of Poland, but Poland is ready to help whenever the need arises.

Commenting on the letter of the Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky to the Polish Foreign Ministry, Ambassador Litwin said that Zhirinovsky actually wrote a letter regarding the hold of referendum on annexing five western regions of Ukraine to Poland, but there will be no answer: “We do not treat this as a respectable offer, we consider it a provocation. There is no need to make any official comments”.

With regard to economic change, which Ukraine requires now, Mr. Litwin expressed his opinion: “Even in the most difficult times, when it was necessary to carry out reforms, we observed economy growth. There are no alternatives for economic reforms that build a new economic structure. There are challenging times, but the effect is obvious. I think that all our partners who went to Poland saw the difference between Poland 20 years ago and now. This is a very complicated process. It is better to make changes immediately. Big political changes are happening now in Ukraine. Our experience shows there is no other way”.

Henryk Litwin, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Poland in Ukraine. Before his appointment to Ukraine he was a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, Polish Ambassador in Belarus, and Deputy Director of the Department of East Policy at the Foreign Ministry. From 2001 to 2005 Mr. Litwin  served as Minister Plenipotentiary – Deputy Chief of Mission at the Embassy of Poland in the Russian Federation in, 1991 – 1994 he was a Consul General of Poland in Lviv and Consul – Head of the Consular Agency in Lviv.

Watch video [icon icon=’Icomoon/icomoon-youtube-2′]